Antonío da Silva Porto
Encyclopedia
António Francisco Ferreira da Silva Porto (24 August 1817 - 1890) was a Portuguese
trader
and explorer in Angola, in the Portuguese West Africa.
; he was the son of humble parents, but whose father distinguished himself in battles against the French
during their invasion in 1810
. Instead of following his father into the military, the intelligent and ambitious boy looked to economic possibilities farther afield.
Brazil was a obvious possibility, owing to the success of many emigrants; at the age of twelve, with his father's blessing, he emigrated to the Brazil
ian capital of Rio de Janeiro
on board the brig Rio Ave. After working for a while for a merchant he became indignant with his remuneration and quits, taking several itinerant jobs. At 18 years of age he lands in Bahia
, where he makes it a point of announcing to the newspaper Correio Mercantil of his new name, in order to remove any confusion with another António Ferreira da Silva. He does this also to pay homage to his hometown. In Bahia he continues to work as a sales clerk for a coffee
merchant but continues to be exploited by his boss and frustrated by the "despotism of proprietors without scruples".
, "without even knowing where Angola
was" as he would state later in life. However, initially, Luanda did not fascinate him much, and after a short time, he returned to Bahia where the political climate was heating up. During the "Sabino Revolt", an autonomist uprising in the State of Bahia that occurred between November 6, 1837 and March 16, 1838, Silva Porto understood that this political instability would hamper business prospects, and decided to return to Angola, where he employed in a local tavern. Slowly, he becomes captivated with the interior of the African continent, and with his first salaries, he buys handicrafts and linens. Once he was confident of the quantity of mercantile goods in his possession, he quit his job to begin his 50-year career as a merchant in the interior. He is only 22 years old. This was a difficult adventure: many of the caravans that left the Benguela
coast for Lui
, Luanda
and Katanga
risked robbery, pillaging and negotiating styles of the local chiefs. There was always risk of wandering into tribal conflicts. Silva Porto developed many friendships in the interior with tribesmen and quickly adapted to the conditions in Africa, adapting indigenous agricultural techniques and married a prominent black woman from the Bié kingdom of the Ovimbundu
people, and he fathering several mixed-race children with her.
By 1838, he had opened a shop in the interior of Luanda. Then by 1845, he descended to Benguela, establishing a route for his business along the road to Lui, by way of Lutembo and the upper Zambezi
. He eventually established his headquarters in Belmonte
, beginning his exploration of the region of Barotseland
. His shop was a center of intense activity and commerce; he sold his textiles, small porcelain
objects and explosives bought and traded ivory
, honey
and rubber
from the interior, which he meticulously recorded in his journals. These tomes (14 volumes in all) contained varied descriptions of geography, ethnography and anthropology of his region of Africa, which his old friend Luciano Cordeiro
referred to as a "conversation on paper". Cordeiro would add, "with his tight and tortuous writing, which reminds me of zigzags across the mountain forests, in his at times, almost-Creole language owing to his isolation in the wilderness, in which he passed many hours writing silently". Eventually, Silva Porto's journals were published in the "Annals of the Ultramarine Counsel".
Silva Porto would once affirm, "If my work was what it was, there would be much published, and probably in many languages". In 1848, he was appointed interim Captain-major
of Bié. He set out to quiet relations between the indigenous and Europeans; he met with the colonial Europeans to unite them and to persuade the local chief, Lhiumbulla, to stop detaining colonists (a fact that merchant Europeans continued to do for petty reasons). However, his attempts were an impossibility when the chief died, forcing Silva Porto to ask the colonial administration for a military force to protect Portuguese interests. After 1854 his activity was incessant, and by 1869 he had made six voyages to Lui and three to Benguela, where he would purchase the local shop Bemposta and remained sedentary, until 1879 when he returned to Belmonte. By 62 years of age, he was once again crossing Western Africa: he traveled to Moio (Kuba) in 1880 and 1882, to Lui (Barotseland) in 1883, and then to Benguela in 1882 and 1884. His activities were interrupted by a return trip to Lisbon for eye surgery during the winter and spring of 1885. When he returned he continued to trek his products across the interior, this time to Calunda and Benguela (by the end of 1887). When in Belmonte
he helped the local mission, providing from his own money for school supplies, food and clothing for their children and remuneration for the teacher.
On March 5, 1889 he was substituted by Justino Teixeira da Silva as Captain-major
of Bié, but continued to receive his 100$000 reis per month and the associated honors.
, the most eastern Portuguese vanguard, Silva Porto experimented with exploring areas of the interior. He was a self-styled diplomat between the Portuguese colonists and the native tribes of the Ovimbundu
, as well as a merchant and explorer. He frequently crossed the interior in caravans selling goods, as well as participating in field projects to document the ethnography and geography of the interior of the Portuguese West Africa. For many years, Silva Porto was the only white man that natives in Portuguese West Africa would see; he established himself in Bié and established a local business to serve the locals, settlers and support Portuguese forces.
In addition, he presented his services to David Livingstone
, Henry Morton Stanley
, Hermenegildo Capelo
, Roberto Ivens
and Alexandre de Serpa Pinto
by relating his knowledge of native customs and identifying local indigenous which he had established good relations. Supposedly, Livingstone, was unimpressed with the Portuguese settler, referring to him as a "vulgar negrito" when he arrived in the lands of the Upper Zambezi
. At one point, Silva Porto housed the explorer, David Livingstone, and he helped Livingstone find an overland route between Luanda and certain places in the Angolan interior. Neither one of them seemed to like the other. Further, in his journals, he referred to the two Portuguese that he encountered (Silva Porto and Caetano Ferreira) as "mulattoes or uncivilized black savages", omitting the fact that Silva Porto had helped and supplied him with valuable information, and accused Silva Porto of being nothing more than an ordinary slave trader.
In 1889, after a visit to another village, Silva Porto returned to Kuito
to find his home burned-down. He wrote his friend Luciano Cordeiro
, "I am an invalid and poor. I have no bread and look to the supreme consolation...to die in the Fatherland". In 1877, the Geographic Society
had made an appeal to an entitlement for the merchant/explorer (specifically a pension), in order to support his desire to return to Portugal, where he could "die in the Fatherland which he had honorably and dedicatedly served".
around January 1890, with a contingent of 40 Mozambican soldiers, armed with Snider-Enfield
breech-loading
rifles, which worried the chief of Bié. Fearing that the Portuguese were there to construct a fort and occupy his lands, the chief was convinced by Silva Porto that the troops were only passing through the area on the way to Barotseland
, and that they would not remain there for long. Nevertheless, Paiva Couceiro remained in the area until April, at which the chief (encouraged by threats to the Portuguese by the English) decided to send an ultimatum to the Captain-major in Teixeira da Silva
: Couceiro and his troops should leave Bié by the morning of the following day. Indignant about the chief's demands, he sent Silva Porto to the village to negotiate an understanding. Believing he had some influence with the chief, he attempted to resolve the tensions, but was disappointed to realize he had little power: he returned despondent, likely learning that the British Ultimatum had reduced Portuguese influence. During Silva Porto's confrontation with Dunduna, the chief even tugged on his white beard; Dunduna was indignant over not being advised of the Paiva Couceiro's intentions and affirmed that Silva Porto was without character and insulted that he should wear beard, a symbol to him of respect.
Returning to Teixeira da Silva, he asked about the certainty of the Ultimatum, which irritated Paiva Couceiro. But later, in Kuito
, Silva Porto was in good spirits, although Paiva Couceiro did notice that his compound had barrels of gunpowder (which he, laughing, brushed-off as full of sand). On April 1, 1890, the explorer wrapped himself in a Portuguese flag, lay down on a dozen kegs of gunpowder, and lit a fuse. He did not die immediately, but the burns from the self-inflicted injury killed him the next day. He was seventy-three.
, founded by the Portuguese and named Belmonte at that time, was renamed Silva Porto. In 1962-63, the Angolan Yearbook, which glorified its original colonizer, referred to the town as follows:
The name remained until Angola's independence in 1975. Today its importance has been bypassed, and the population was diminished substantially.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
trader
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and explorer in Angola, in the Portuguese West Africa.
Biography
Silva Porto was born to a poor family in Oporto in continental PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
; he was the son of humble parents, but whose father distinguished himself in battles against the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during their invasion in 1810
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. Instead of following his father into the military, the intelligent and ambitious boy looked to economic possibilities farther afield.
Brazil was a obvious possibility, owing to the success of many emigrants; at the age of twelve, with his father's blessing, he emigrated to the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian capital of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
on board the brig Rio Ave. After working for a while for a merchant he became indignant with his remuneration and quits, taking several itinerant jobs. At 18 years of age he lands in Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, where he makes it a point of announcing to the newspaper Correio Mercantil of his new name, in order to remove any confusion with another António Ferreira da Silva. He does this also to pay homage to his hometown. In Bahia he continues to work as a sales clerk for a coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
merchant but continues to be exploited by his boss and frustrated by the "despotism of proprietors without scruples".
West African merchant
One day, at the Port of Bahia, he boards a ship to LuandaLuanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, "without even knowing where Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
was" as he would state later in life. However, initially, Luanda did not fascinate him much, and after a short time, he returned to Bahia where the political climate was heating up. During the "Sabino Revolt", an autonomist uprising in the State of Bahia that occurred between November 6, 1837 and March 16, 1838, Silva Porto understood that this political instability would hamper business prospects, and decided to return to Angola, where he employed in a local tavern. Slowly, he becomes captivated with the interior of the African continent, and with his first salaries, he buys handicrafts and linens. Once he was confident of the quantity of mercantile goods in his possession, he quit his job to begin his 50-year career as a merchant in the interior. He is only 22 years old. This was a difficult adventure: many of the caravans that left the Benguela
Benguela
Benguela is a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name, in 12° 33’ S., 13° 25’ E...
coast for Lui
Lui
Lui is a French adult entertainment magazine created in November 1963 by Daniel Filipacchi, a fashion photographer turned publisher, Jacques Lanzmann, a jack of all trades turned novelist, and Frank Ténot, a press agent, pataphysician and jazz critic..The objective was to bring some charm "à la...
, Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
and Katanga
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
risked robbery, pillaging and negotiating styles of the local chiefs. There was always risk of wandering into tribal conflicts. Silva Porto developed many friendships in the interior with tribesmen and quickly adapted to the conditions in Africa, adapting indigenous agricultural techniques and married a prominent black woman from the Bié kingdom of the Ovimbundu
Ovimbundu
The Southern Mbundu, now generally called Ovimbundu , are an ethnic group who lives on the Bié Plateau of central Angola and in the coastal strip west of these highlands. As the largest ethnic group in Angola, they make up almost 40 percent of the country's population...
people, and he fathering several mixed-race children with her.
By 1838, he had opened a shop in the interior of Luanda. Then by 1845, he descended to Benguela, establishing a route for his business along the road to Lui, by way of Lutembo and the upper Zambezi
Zambezi
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...
. He eventually established his headquarters in Belmonte
Kuito
Kuito is a city located in central Angola. It is the administrative capital of Bié Province. Under Portuguese rule until 1975, it was called Silva Porto. Kuito was under siege in 1993/94 and again in 1998/99 by the rebel forces from UNITA...
, beginning his exploration of the region of Barotseland
Barotseland
Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of...
. His shop was a center of intense activity and commerce; he sold his textiles, small porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
objects and explosives bought and traded ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
, honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
and rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
from the interior, which he meticulously recorded in his journals. These tomes (14 volumes in all) contained varied descriptions of geography, ethnography and anthropology of his region of Africa, which his old friend Luciano Cordeiro
Luciano Cordeiro
Luciano Cordeiro was a Portuguese writer.-Publications:* "Livro de crítica" * "Segundo Livro de crítica" * "De la part prise par les Portugais dans la découverte de l’Amérique"...
referred to as a "conversation on paper". Cordeiro would add, "with his tight and tortuous writing, which reminds me of zigzags across the mountain forests, in his at times, almost-Creole language owing to his isolation in the wilderness, in which he passed many hours writing silently". Eventually, Silva Porto's journals were published in the "Annals of the Ultramarine Counsel".
Silva Porto would once affirm, "If my work was what it was, there would be much published, and probably in many languages". In 1848, he was appointed interim Captain-major
Captain-major
Captain-major is the English rendering of the Portuguese title Capitão-mor for colonial officers, put in charge of a capitania, Portuguese possession deemed not important enough to have its own colonial Governor.Due to the impossibility of exercising direct control and sovereignty over islands,...
of Bié. He set out to quiet relations between the indigenous and Europeans; he met with the colonial Europeans to unite them and to persuade the local chief, Lhiumbulla, to stop detaining colonists (a fact that merchant Europeans continued to do for petty reasons). However, his attempts were an impossibility when the chief died, forcing Silva Porto to ask the colonial administration for a military force to protect Portuguese interests. After 1854 his activity was incessant, and by 1869 he had made six voyages to Lui and three to Benguela, where he would purchase the local shop Bemposta and remained sedentary, until 1879 when he returned to Belmonte. By 62 years of age, he was once again crossing Western Africa: he traveled to Moio (Kuba) in 1880 and 1882, to Lui (Barotseland) in 1883, and then to Benguela in 1882 and 1884. His activities were interrupted by a return trip to Lisbon for eye surgery during the winter and spring of 1885. When he returned he continued to trek his products across the interior, this time to Calunda and Benguela (by the end of 1887). When in Belmonte
Kuito
Kuito is a city located in central Angola. It is the administrative capital of Bié Province. Under Portuguese rule until 1975, it was called Silva Porto. Kuito was under siege in 1993/94 and again in 1998/99 by the rebel forces from UNITA...
he helped the local mission, providing from his own money for school supplies, food and clothing for their children and remuneration for the teacher.
On March 5, 1889 he was substituted by Justino Teixeira da Silva as Captain-major
Captain-major
Captain-major is the English rendering of the Portuguese title Capitão-mor for colonial officers, put in charge of a capitania, Portuguese possession deemed not important enough to have its own colonial Governor.Due to the impossibility of exercising direct control and sovereignty over islands,...
of Bié, but continued to receive his 100$000 reis per month and the associated honors.
Explorer
Around 1850, Portuguese exploration of Africa expanded, but Silva Porto's request for a military occupation force was never heard: at that time, Portugal was only interested in developing and colonizing the coast. In KuitoBelmonte
-People and titles:*Prince Belmonte or Princess Belmonte, a Spanish and Italian noble title*Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church*Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church...
, the most eastern Portuguese vanguard, Silva Porto experimented with exploring areas of the interior. He was a self-styled diplomat between the Portuguese colonists and the native tribes of the Ovimbundu
Ovimbundu
The Southern Mbundu, now generally called Ovimbundu , are an ethnic group who lives on the Bié Plateau of central Angola and in the coastal strip west of these highlands. As the largest ethnic group in Angola, they make up almost 40 percent of the country's population...
, as well as a merchant and explorer. He frequently crossed the interior in caravans selling goods, as well as participating in field projects to document the ethnography and geography of the interior of the Portuguese West Africa. For many years, Silva Porto was the only white man that natives in Portuguese West Africa would see; he established himself in Bié and established a local business to serve the locals, settlers and support Portuguese forces.
In addition, he presented his services to David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
, Henry Morton Stanley
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...
, Hermenegildo Capelo
Hermenegildo Capelo
Hermenegildo de Brito Capelo was born in Palmela, Portugal, in 1841, and died in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1917. He was an officer in the Portuguese Navy and a Portuguese explorer, helping to chart territory between Angola and Mozambique in southern Central Africa that was unknown to Europeans in the...
, Roberto Ivens
Roberto Ivens
Roberto Ivens was a Portuguese explorer of Africa, Geographer, colonial administrator, and an officer of the Portuguese Navy.-Early life:...
and Alexandre de Serpa Pinto
Alexandre de Serpa Pinto
Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto was a Portuguese explorer of southern Africa and a colonial administrator....
by relating his knowledge of native customs and identifying local indigenous which he had established good relations. Supposedly, Livingstone, was unimpressed with the Portuguese settler, referring to him as a "vulgar negrito" when he arrived in the lands of the Upper Zambezi
Zambezi
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...
. At one point, Silva Porto housed the explorer, David Livingstone, and he helped Livingstone find an overland route between Luanda and certain places in the Angolan interior. Neither one of them seemed to like the other. Further, in his journals, he referred to the two Portuguese that he encountered (Silva Porto and Caetano Ferreira) as "mulattoes or uncivilized black savages", omitting the fact that Silva Porto had helped and supplied him with valuable information, and accused Silva Porto of being nothing more than an ordinary slave trader.
In 1889, after a visit to another village, Silva Porto returned to Kuito
Belmonte
-People and titles:*Prince Belmonte or Princess Belmonte, a Spanish and Italian noble title*Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church*Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church...
to find his home burned-down. He wrote his friend Luciano Cordeiro
Luciano Cordeiro
Luciano Cordeiro was a Portuguese writer.-Publications:* "Livro de crítica" * "Segundo Livro de crítica" * "De la part prise par les Portugais dans la découverte de l’Amérique"...
, "I am an invalid and poor. I have no bread and look to the supreme consolation...to die in the Fatherland". In 1877, the Geographic Society
Lisbon Geographic Society
The Lisbon Geographic Society is a Portuguese scientific society created in Lisbon in the year of 1875, aiming to "promote and assist the study and progress of geography and related sciences in Portugal."...
had made an appeal to an entitlement for the merchant/explorer (specifically a pension), in order to support his desire to return to Portugal, where he could "die in the Fatherland which he had honorably and dedicatedly served".
Death
However, the 1890 British Ultimatum and the loss of the confidence brought on by chief Dunduna would drive him into despair. Paiva Couceiro arrived in the area of Teixeira da SilvaBailundo
Bailundo is a municipality and town in Huambo Province in the central highlands of Angola.In the 1990s, Bailundo was the location of the headquarters of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi....
around January 1890, with a contingent of 40 Mozambican soldiers, armed with Snider-Enfield
Snider-Enfield
The British .577 Snider-Enfield was a type of breech loading rifle. The firearm action was invented by the American Jacob Snider, and the Snider-Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. It was adopted by British Army as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853...
breech-loading
Breech-loading weapon
A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....
rifles, which worried the chief of Bié. Fearing that the Portuguese were there to construct a fort and occupy his lands, the chief was convinced by Silva Porto that the troops were only passing through the area on the way to Barotseland
Barotseland
Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of...
, and that they would not remain there for long. Nevertheless, Paiva Couceiro remained in the area until April, at which the chief (encouraged by threats to the Portuguese by the English) decided to send an ultimatum to the Captain-major in Teixeira da Silva
Bailundo
Bailundo is a municipality and town in Huambo Province in the central highlands of Angola.In the 1990s, Bailundo was the location of the headquarters of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi....
: Couceiro and his troops should leave Bié by the morning of the following day. Indignant about the chief's demands, he sent Silva Porto to the village to negotiate an understanding. Believing he had some influence with the chief, he attempted to resolve the tensions, but was disappointed to realize he had little power: he returned despondent, likely learning that the British Ultimatum had reduced Portuguese influence. During Silva Porto's confrontation with Dunduna, the chief even tugged on his white beard; Dunduna was indignant over not being advised of the Paiva Couceiro's intentions and affirmed that Silva Porto was without character and insulted that he should wear beard, a symbol to him of respect.
Returning to Teixeira da Silva, he asked about the certainty of the Ultimatum, which irritated Paiva Couceiro. But later, in Kuito
Belmonte
-People and titles:*Prince Belmonte or Princess Belmonte, a Spanish and Italian noble title*Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church*Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church...
, Silva Porto was in good spirits, although Paiva Couceiro did notice that his compound had barrels of gunpowder (which he, laughing, brushed-off as full of sand). On April 1, 1890, the explorer wrapped himself in a Portuguese flag, lay down on a dozen kegs of gunpowder, and lit a fuse. He did not die immediately, but the burns from the self-inflicted injury killed him the next day. He was seventy-three.
Legacy
The town of KuitoKuito
Kuito is a city located in central Angola. It is the administrative capital of Bié Province. Under Portuguese rule until 1975, it was called Silva Porto. Kuito was under siege in 1993/94 and again in 1998/99 by the rebel forces from UNITA...
, founded by the Portuguese and named Belmonte at that time, was renamed Silva Porto. In 1962-63, the Angolan Yearbook, which glorified its original colonizer, referred to the town as follows:
- "The city of Silva Porto has a graceful aspect and the roads well marked and for the most part recently asphalted, it is electrified and watered, with a radio station and swimming pools for water sports. In the city there was recently erected a bronze statue , with 3.6 meter height, in honor if this great Portuguese...there are 2300 Europeans, 1900 mestizos and less than 400,000 natives".
The name remained until Angola's independence in 1975. Today its importance has been bypassed, and the population was diminished substantially.
See also
- KuitoKuitoKuito is a city located in central Angola. It is the administrative capital of Bié Province. Under Portuguese rule until 1975, it was called Silva Porto. Kuito was under siege in 1993/94 and again in 1998/99 by the rebel forces from UNITA...